A mobile network may be used to provide mobile data services to a user (also referred to as a subscriber). Data may be transmitted between a user equipment (UE) associated with a user and a packet data network (PDN).
The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) is an IP-based protocol currently used in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), or (Long Term Evolution) LTE mobile networks. The GTP protocol includes a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol User Plane referred to as GTP-U for user data packets tunneled, for example, within the core network, within the radio access network, or between the radio access network and the core network. The tunneled user data packets may be packets in one or more formats such as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), or Point to Point Protocol (PPP). In order to negotiate a tunnel conforming to the GTP-U protocol between a given pair of tunnel endpoints, one or more signaling protocols may be used such as GTP Version 1 Control (GTPv1-C), GTP Version 2 Control (GTPv2-C), Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP), or S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP).